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@skobkin But I understand why artists are angry. On top of the indignity of having their work scraped and dismantled by others for profit, without their permission, David's situation is a very frustrating and tragic one that is extremely widespread, and we already have cases where people are being granted $2m contracts for their work, only to have it ripped away again, because the legitimacy of what they've offered is called into question. That's bad, and that's a real concern, I think.

@skobkin Here's an unfinished painting I did, where the table and dishware were done in Blender. I built the models, I rigged the lighting, I tweaked the arrangement to fit a mistake I made in the characters' perspective, in a way my client preferred. It sticks out like a sore thumb, at this stage. I could run it into AI so that the models are integrated smoothly with the hand-laid brush strokes, but I won't. I would learn nothing, and it would destroy the legitimacy of the rest of the painting.

@davidrevoy Obviously I'm not going to make demands. 😆 And I will support you in any decisions you make. I like your art because it comes from you, not because it looks a certain way (and definitely take some time off!)

But I think it's more important to live authentically, than to worry about if other people think you're "doing it right". I know that's different when you're worried about a career, but industry peeps have a different perspective from randos who might just want to shitstir.

I thing a big part of my difficulties is that I haven't found my path yet. I know I want to illustrate, but I haven't found the story I want to tell. The emotions, the textures, how realistic or cartoony.

I went back to my roots for a bit and scribbled this out in about a minute. And for all its flaws, it feels more like a kitty than all the other kitties I've done.

It feels a bit generic disney, though, and I don't want to do generic disney critters. But maybe I'm chasing the wrong tail.